Cain’s ‘9-9-9 The Movie’ admits plan favors corporations

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has released a “movie” that explains how his 9-9-9 tax plan would mean soaring corporate profits, but little or no decrease in prices for consumers.

Released Monday, the five-minute cartoon claims the candidate’s tax plan would cause the economy to “accelerate faster than Barack Obama on his way out of town.”

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Cain has called to scrap the entire tax code and replace it with a 9 percent income tax, a 9 percent corporate tax and a 9 percent sales tax.

“What if all these hidden business taxes were based on a flat 9 percent instead of that 30 or 40 percent?” the film’s narrator asks. “Pretty soon, the marginal costs of production would drop and that loaf of bread gets a lot cheaper to make. Thus, a lower price at the store. When the new 9 percent national sales tax gets factored in, our out-of-pocket costs at the store stay about the same, maybe a little less than they were before.”

But the online ad offers little substance to alleviate concerns that a 9 percent federal sales tax would be in addition to the sales tax imposed by many states, creating an effective 15 percent sales tax for many Americans.

Cain hyped the release of “9-9-9 The Movie – Slaying the Tax Monster” on Fox News’s morning show Monday.

Following a segment mocking holiday items for sale by President Barack Obama’s campaign, Fox & Friends host Gretchen Carlson joked that Cain wouldn’t be buying his Christmas presents from the president’s online store.

“No, I have a free gift for everybody,” Cain announced. “It’s called ‘9-9-9 The Movie.’ … I’m not making this up. ‘9-9-9 The Movie’ is being released today and it is free!”

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About the Author

David Edwards has served as an editor at Raw Story since 2006. His work can also be found at Crooks & Liars, and he's also been published at The BRAD BLOG. He came to Raw Story after working as a network manager for the state of North Carolina and as as engineer developing enterprise resource planning software. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidEdwards.